In 2022, when Pat Gelsinger resigned from SoftBank Group Corp's board of directors, the Japanese company was struggling with investment setbacks. In his departure message, he offered advice on how Masayoshi Son's conglomerate could strengthen its operations.

Three years later, a rejuvenated SoftBank Group Corp is showing support for Gelsinger by investing $2 billion in Intel. Gelsinger has now become CEO of the legendary American company and is working to turn around the troubled chipmaker.

Gelsinger took over as Intel CEO in March of this year and is currently driving a corporate restructuring. Previously, Intel had been outpaced by Nvidia in the artificial intelligence chip sector, and its foundry business has also been struggling.

New Street Research analyst Stacy Rasgon stated: "This is essentially Masayoshi Son's confidence vote in Intel's turnaround prospects over the coming years."

"For Intel, this investment means SoftBank Group Corp is more likely to become a potential customer in the future."

The two men have a long history of collaboration.

Gelsinger said in a statement: "I have worked closely with Masayoshi Son for decades and appreciate his vote of confidence in Intel through this investment."

Beyond his tenure on SoftBank Group Corp's board, Gelsinger also served as chairman of chip startup SambaNova, which received backing from SoftBank Vision Fund.

In his statement upon leaving SoftBank Group Corp's board, Gelsinger wrote: "Masayoshi Son is brilliant and visionary. But he still needs someone to provide safeguards and advice to make him more successful."

The 68-year-old Son is known as a shrewd political operator who made two public appearances with U.S. President Donald Trump in the months following the presidential election.

He maintains close relationships with top tech entrepreneurs, such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, in which SoftBank Group Corp holds shares.

Last week, the 65-year-old Gelsinger met with Trump. This came days after Trump called for his resignation due to Gelsinger's connections with Chinese companies. The U.S. government is reportedly in talks to acquire a 10% stake in Intel.

Asymmetric Advisors' Amir Anvarzadeh stated: "SoftBank Group Corp's investment is somewhat helpful, but it won't fundamentally change Intel's situation."

He added: "This is more about maintaining his good relationship with Trump."

**Return to Offensive Strategy**

After some underperforming tech investments forced SoftBank Group Corp into a period of contraction, Son is once again making major investments. The group is collaborating with ChatGPT developer OpenAI on a $500 billion U.S. data center project.

SoftBank Group Corp has acquired a former electric vehicle factory in Ohio from Foxconn to advance its "Stargate" data center project.

SoftBank Group Corp-controlled Arm plans to develop chips independently, and the Japanese conglomerate also acquired chipmaker Graphcore last year.

Driven by positive sentiment around its AI investments, SoftBank Group Corp's stock price has soared.

White Oak Capital Partners investment director said: "This $2 billion investment should be viewed more as a strategic stake rather than a financial investment."

He said: "In cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing, only capital investments of $30-40 billion scale have real commercial impact."

Industry experts say Gelsinger still faces significant challenges in turning around Intel, as the company has been mired in difficulties for years due to management missteps.

Rasgon noted: "This is a contrarian investment by Son, but I believe the downside risk is quite limited."